Plea bargain raised for Duncan

COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho — Convicting and executing sexual predator Joseph Edward Duncan III could cost millions of dollars and take more than a decade, defense attorneys say.

After defense attorneys raised the prospect of a plea bargain with Duncan, charged with killing three people last year, family members of the victims have been adamant that no deal be reached.

"We have no use for no plea agreement," said Sandra Doble, sister of victim Brenda Groene, 40. "With the vicious things he's done, what gives him the right" to leniency?

Groene, her son, Slade, 13, and boyfriend Mark McKenzie, 37, were slain in their home last May in a crime that authorities contend allowed Duncan to kidnap two smaller children for sex.

Shasta Groene, then 8, was recovered alive after seven weeks of captivity. Her brother Dylan, 9, was killed.

Last month, Kootenai County public defender John Adams estimated the Duncan case would last 20 years and would require Shasta to testify numerous times. He hinted Duncan would be willing to enter a plea deal, so long as it included a sentence of life without the possibility of parole.

Adams said if Duncan were to enter a plea deal, all appeals would be waived.

Prosecutor Bill Douglas said no plea bargain was likely.

However, the lawyer who will take over Duncan's defense if he is convicted and sentenced to death said taxpayers should figure on spending millions.

"I would say [the Duncan case] will cost $3 million to $5 million total, just for the state appeals," said Molly Huskey, Idaho appellate public defender.

Huskey's office automatically represents condemned inmates. In Duncan's case, she said it could take five to seven years after sentencing to exhaust all of his state appeals. After that, his defense would be transferred to the federal defender's office.

After the state case, it is expected Duncan will be charged in federal court with the kidnapping of the younger Groene children and the death of Dylan.

It is also possible Duncan will face California charges in the abduction and murder of 10-year-old Anthony Michael Martinez in April 1997. Duncan has confessed to that killing.